Dover councilor denies violating Right-to-Know Law with e-mail

DOVER — Two city councilors involved in an e-mail exchange that went councilwide have differing viewpoints about whether it posed a potential Right-to-Know violation.

Ward 4 Councilor Dean Trefethen said he unintentionally clicked "reply to all" with feedback on a proposed resolution drafted by Ward 5 Councilor Catherine Cheney, thus violating the law by discussing city business with a quorum, or majority, of the council.

"I was not thinking at the moment which button to click," Trefethen said. "It certainly was not an attempt to circumvent (the) Right-to-Know (Law) or the public."

But Cheney insisted her councilwide e-mails were not a violation of the law, and insisted she sent the e-mail at the request of other councilors.

Under the Right-to-Know Law, a quorum, or majority of city officials, cannot discuss city business without properly posting a public meeting notice. The law includes e-mail exchanges by a majority as a public meeting.

City Attorney Allan Krans said he explains the Right-to-Know Law, including its purview over e-mail exchanges, during City Council orientation at the beginning of councilors' terms.

Krans said he uses the example of announcing a meeting time and date as a type of e-mail exchange that is permissible under the law, but e-mails that invite a response about city business could be a violation.

"At orientation, part of the presentation I make is the city of Dover wants to aggressively comply with the Right-to-Know Law," Krans said Thursday. "There are a lot of opportunities to make technical violations of the law or what could be perceived as a violation of the law. It's a matter of trying to improve as we go along, and we are aggressively trying to do that."

The e-mail chain began when Cheney sent out a mass e-mail containing a proposed resolution to include additional council rules on an upcoming agenda.

In a phone interview Thursday, Cheney said she did not solicit opinions from councilors.

But in the e-mail to the council dated Feb. 19, Cheney told councilors she would "appreciate input."

Ward 4 City Councilor Dean Trefethen then responded to Cheney, and the rest of the council, recommending "one minor wording change" to her proposed resolution.

Following Trefethen's e-mail, which was also dated Feb. 19, City Manager Mike Joyal warned councilors that although unintentional, the discussion could be a violation of the state's Right-to-Know Law.

"I realize there is no intent to exclude or circumvent the public's right to know," Joyal wrote in the e-mail. "However, in keeping with the objective to engender public trust and confidence, keep in mind that someone, somewhere, will not perceive it that way."

Following Joyal's e-mail, Cheney sent her proposed resolutions to the entire council and told councilors to "feel free to contact (her) individually."

In his e-mail, Joyal also urged the council to disclose the conversation in an upcoming meeting in order to "proactively" acknowledge that the discussion had occurred.

At-large City Councilor Steve McCusker did bring up the e-mail exchange during Wednesday night's council meeting, prompting Joyal to explain the sequence of events and his warning publicly.

Trefethen said Wednesday's disclosure, and the fact the e-mails are available to the public, is sufficient to address any concerns about a potential violation.

All e-mail correspondences by councilors are available in an archive in the City Clerk's office.